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Sukhdeep Gill, associate professor of human development and family studies, left, presented the James H. Burness Award for Excellence in Teaching to Anne Vardo-Zalik, assistant professor of biology, the full-time faculty recipient last year.

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Teaching award nominations sought at Penn State York

November 5, 2013

Teaching award nominations sought at Penn State York

Nominations are being accepted for the 2014 James H. Burness Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award given annually to recognize any aspect of excellent instruction (lectures, demonstrations, classroom activities, handling of discussions, individual attention, laboratory instruction, etc.) that contributes to the academic quality of Penn State York.

The purpose of the award is to recognize excellence in instruction, not to identify the most popular faculty member. The teaching award is named in memory of the late James H. Burness in recognition of his outstanding teaching and service to the campus. Burness died in December 1999.

Two awards are given: one to a full-time faculty member and one to a part-time faculty member. Do not worry if you are unsure whether a faculty member is full-time or part-time, the Teaching Award Committee will divide the nominations accordingly.

This nomination form is for faculty who are teaching in fall 2013. Nominations for the 2014 award also will be open in the spring semester for additional nominations. Be as specific as possible with comments about nominees. When the committee receives something such as "she's a great professor and definitely deserves the award," it doesn't help much in making a decision.

Nominations should be submitted using the online form or the form can be printed off and returned to Cathy Sheaffer in Advising and Career Development in the Main Classroom Building. Ask that your nomination be placed in Harley Hartman’s mailbox by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22.